The Singapore River was once a river that trading boats used to carry their cargo for the British Empire and to call at the trading companies lined at the banks of the river. Now in 2011, boats can still be seen at the river, however, their purpose for being there has been changed indirectly. The only thing that has not been changed is that they are still used as a “tool” to fuel the Singapore economy. How to they do that? They ferry tourists around the Singapore River at a price. For adults, the price is S$15.00, for children it is S$8.00. They are called River Cruisers.
These changes came about in the redevelopment project undertaken by the Singapore Tourism Board of Singapore to redevelop the Singapore River to become a food, entertainment and commercial establishment. This was to attract the youth, professionals and tourists to come and indulge in the range of activities that were organised around the Singapore river and to “part” with their money by feasting themselves to the various delicacies and indulge themselves in the entertainment provided by various fine dining outlets and entertainment establishments found at the Boat Quay and Clark Quay which is situated at the mouth of the river. This initiative was undertaken in order to enhance the night life of Singapore, to develop the surrounding areas of the Singapore River, to provide various activities at the Singapore River and to encourage people from all walks of life to go to the Singapore River. However, with the reference to the last point, can all people enjoy the “activities” that are found at the Singapore River. This point will be brought up later.
A city can resemble or symbolise culture. In the redevelopment of the Singapore River, one of its main aims was to retain its culture. For example, retaining old buildings of architectural merit and historical importance and developing new buildings as well as organising river – oriented activities like the River Hong Bao, Duck Race or dragon boat races.
There are some iconic landmarks situated at the river mouth. For example, the Fullerton Bridge and Hotel (which was once a iconic post office now refurbished for commercial use ), Cavanaugh Bridge & Anderson Bridge. There are also many dining & entertainment establishments. Two areas that were constructed along the Singapore area to provide these kinds of establishments were Boat quay and Clark quay. There is also an area which signifies Singapore’s increasing ambition to develop the Art’s scene in Singapore. Museums and Art houses are now situated near the Singapore River to house plays, concerts and exhibitions. With globalisation and our thriving economy, various international artists and renowned exhibitions come to Singapore to showcase their plays, concerts and exhibitions. Buildings that hold these activities are The Arts House, Victoria Theatre and Concert Hall and the Asian Civilisation Museum.
Few examples of food and entertainment establishments in Boat Quay and Clark Quay are Jumbo Seafood ( The Riverwalk), Rendezvous Restaurant, Billy Bombers classic, Waraku Japanese Restaurant, Hot Stores, Baize + China One, Crazy Elephant, Highlander, Pump Room, Penny Black and Harry’s.
Residential properties can also be found at the mouth of the Singapore River. For example, The River. It has 545 units, multi-storey sky gardens, lush green vista integrated with the Singapore River Promenade and various terraces overlooking the Singapore River. Units offered consists of 2, 3 4 bedroom units and penthouses. The price range for these units is around 1.5 million to 3 million. This residential property can only be bought by those with the “cash”. It mostly attracts expatriates, businessmen and those that are looking to buy property which they could sell in the future for investment.
Why do I describe what the Singapore River consists of? This is to help me to explain to you how the government uses what is called abstract spaces to create businesses, how the political economy approach reflect the development of the Singapore River. It will be illustrated using theories from Henri Lefebvre : Redefining the study of the cities & John Logan & Harvey Molotec : Urban Growth Machines
For those living in Singapore, you will be able to tell that those with the financial means would be able to visit the Food and Entertainment establishments found at Singapore River. Those who can’t, just got there to “walk around” and immerse themselves with the surroundings. Thus various of levels of social class are developed.
Why should several of levels of social class be developed? This can be found in the unevenness of the development of the Singapore River. This unevenness is theorised in Henri Lefebvre theory on urbanisation. He described this unevenness by creating two categories. He called it the primary circuit of capital and the second circuit of capital.
In a capitalistic system, the flow of money is the ability for manufactures to produce goods and sale of products to generate profits. In the case of the redevelopment of the Singapore River, food and entertainment establishments are created so that owners of these establishments can sell and even produce their own products to sell to their consumers, in the case of Brewerks, where the beer is brewed at its food and establishment to be sold to its consumers. Consumers with good purchasing power pay for such services. Thus these establishments make good profits on the sale of their food and entertainment services. Food and drink manufacturers, local or foreign, sell their products to owners of these food and entertainment establishments thus creating a two way business transaction. Prices and drinks are charged at a high price to cover the cost of the purchase of these products and also to make a profit on the sale of the products. For example, an Erdinger beer is sold at S$15 or the price of steak can reach up to S$50. Therefore, these facts re-iterate my point that those who have the financial means can visit these establishments and those who cannot can only stare and smell the aroma that is diffused from a lovely piece of Wagyu beef and watch others enjoy their dinner.
Another area of unevenness of urbanisation that Henri Lefebvre identified is the profit – oriented activity – real estate investment – the second circuit of capital. The Rivergate residential property built at the mouth of the Singapore River is a good example. Property agents cum businessman can acquire wealth by selling to the units to “people” who can afford it. As written in the 6th paragraph, the prices of these units are very high. The sales of these units are profit driven. The area around the residential property becomes private property or even gated property because people of certain status, wealth and power can acquirer these units and the units are closely guarded by sercurity men and cameras.Thus creating a social class divide once again. However, when it comes to housing, most Singaporeans are happy because the government has done a lot to help everyone to have a house even though they may not have the means to do so. With the Singapore HDB urbanisation project in 1968, Singapore is the only country whereby nearly 98% of it citizens own homes.
Those who own the properties at Rivergate can eventually sell them because residential property in most cases would appreciate in value. The sale of their units would in return provide them with good money. Therefore, in the short run, the sale of the units benefits property agents. In the long run, it will benefit the buyer. It is a win win situation. The buyer or the agent may use the money to invest in other properties or businesses, thus increasing their wealth. The sales of food and entertainment establishments to other investors also play a part in the increase of wealth for investors. As the saying goes, the rich can only get richer.
Henri Lefebvre explain these facts in his theory. I shall quote him.
“He said that investment in land always needs to profit and serves as an important means of acquiring wealth. One buys to make money by the sale of the property because one expects its value to rise. Investors take the money and invest on other projects in order to make more money “
The government’s good planning for the location of food and entertainment establishments drives the concept of abstract spaces. Henri Lefebvre explained that abstract spaces are what government, businessmen and investors have in mind when they want to plan where they can locate their businesses in order to reap the best benefits in obtaining profits for their businesses and the best location of the appreciation of the value for their establishments. They also consider the size of the location.
By locating Food and entertainment establishments at Boat Quay and Clark quay, the government has strategically placed these establishments near the CBD and shopping belt of Singapore. Coupled with many kinds of activities that attracts many kinds of different people Boat quay and Clark quay, there is never a time where these places are empty. Specially designing the food and entertainment establishments with decorative decor helps consumers identify themselves with their culture, attitude and identity and these concepts helps to attract consumers to the establishments.
Singapore has one great advantage and that is its size. It is a very small country therefore going to places is not a hassle. Furthermore, Singapore has a rather first class transportation system and this makes it even easier for people to go to Boat quay or Clark quay. As businesses grow for these establishments, the area around the Singapore River becomes a very popular for the establishment of restaurants and entertainment outlets to be located. The value of land increases thus the selling value of these outlets. Unfortunate, prices of food and drinks will also keep on rising. It may increase the gap between those who can afford or those that cannot.
Even the shopping centre, the Central built at Clark quay, caters to those who can spent. The merchandisers selling goods from clothes to computer accessories are rather expensive. It could be claim that the government only think of making money and do not care for the lower income. However, you still can see those who can’t afford go to Singapore River just to walk around and admire the surroundings, whether they are jealous of others is another matter.
Many a times, there is a “changing of hand” between these outlets. Therefore, it is to quite common to see a food and entertainment outlets to last only around six months to a year. Of course there are other reasons why these outlets also close down like economy downturn and lost of profit due to competition but we cannot ignore that profit driven motives are one the several factors that affect the sale of these establishments.
Jon logan and Harvey Molotch study on abstract space followed closely with Henri Lefebvre and held similar points of view with him.
They wrote that urban growth coalitions - typically made up of bankers, businesspeople, corporate property owners, developers, politicians, and investors - seek to spark population growth, increase the market value of land, and stimulate the city's economy through investment and development.To accomplish pressure the city's goverment to create a good business climate which are cleanliness, safety, tax incentives, low interest rate and relacation assistance. Isn't all these activities being down by our government to encourage local and foreign businesses and organisations to set up their " shops" here in Singapore.
Lee Kuan Yew once said this after a trip to England. He admired how the way the landscape around England's Heathrow airport was decorated. It was decorated by alot of flowers and plants and the atmosphere gave him a very good lasting expression of the country. If investors want to come to Singapore, the first place they will be at is the airport and they must have an instant feeling that Singapore is a wonderful and beautiful place to do business in. Why do you thing our airport is well decorated. Even the roads leading to and away from the airport are well decorated.
Around the Singapore River, you can see people from all walks of life, be it locals or foreigners. People follow a certain kind of conduct and behaviour when moving around the area so as to respect each other’s space. You can see office buildings and the office workers who occupy the office buildings. People with different income levels can still walk around as long they respect the privacy of others. This is what is known as social places. Henri Lefebvre calls this area a place where people live, work and play. Well there are people living in apartments living near the Singapore River also and you can see some of them jogging in the evenings with their dogs. However, for those really living, working and playing around the Singapore River are not your normal Singapore heartlanders. They kind of belong to a certain social class. Therefore it is not common to see them hang out in certain pubs that are “only meant of them” and exclude others.
The advantage of our government planning and zooming of areas for entertainment and residential activities is that it does not destroy unnecessary areas just for the development of such establishments. Every citizen’s social space is respected. The development of Singapore River in no way affects the residential lifes that normal Singaporeans enjoy. Most local residents would like to protect their own local community and may resist any development that would affect their local life.
Jon logan and Harvey Molotch wrote that “ local residents have a social space view of their community and may oppose growth as being against their own best interest”.
The re-development of the Singapore River was a project undertaken to develop the night scene, the arts scene and the retail scene in Singapore. Right down from Orchard Road to the Singapore River, similar fine, dining, entertainment and shopping concepts are being created. With on the onset of globalisation, international renowned brands such as YSL, Larvin and Giogio Armani have set up shops here. Identical shopping malls are created to house various shops that sell branded goods from clothes to computer accessories. Artificial cultural scenes that depict foreign cultures are created to serve foreigners. These can be seen in various culture themes that pubs and restaurants adopt. For example, the English pub called Penny Black.
However, these developments cater to the government’s aim of improving the Singapore economy. to make Singapore into a vibrant hip city buzzing with entertainment and night life. Those who can’t afford to buy the expensive goods and can only go to the cheaper shops. However, like every capitalistic country, in order to grow, re-development to make one country to an “exciting one” is inevitable, hence this would create a divide in the social class of people. Theories from Henri Lefebvre : Redefining the study of the cities & John Logan & Harvey Molotec : Urban Growth Machines describe the pros and cons of re-development.
However, not all is bad, the government’s planning and zooming of areas for entertainment and residential activities is that it does not destroy unnecessary areas just for the development of such establishments.
In these essay, I have shown how re-development of the Singapore River has helped the government to use what is called abstract spaces to create businesses and how the political economy approach reflect the development of the Singapore River.
